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12-plate wish list: Chevrolet Camaro

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Tell people that you drive something with a 6.2-litre engine and they’ll probably assume you work for Eddie Stobart. Surely no car could possibly need a motor that large? Welcome to the world of the Chevrolet Camaro.

Sticking to the American ethos of bigger is better, the Camaro sits long, low and wide; its gaping grilles, big wheels and snarling exhaust pipes ensuring no-one is going to mistake it for a hybrid. Combined with an extrovert paint scheme, it’s perhaps not the car for shrinking violets.

It’s probably one to avoid if you have a soft spot for polar bears too. With a 6.2-litre General Motors V8 engine under the bonnet, the Camaro doesn’t exactly sip fuel and with CO2 emissions of 329g/km, you’re going to need to do a lot of recycling to ease your eco-conscience while driving one of these.

But there is one thing that the Camaro has always excelled at: bargain power. With 426bhp attacking the rear tyres and a proper six-speed manual gearbox to mete it out with, the Camaro has more than enough grunt and driver appeal to put the frighteners on the best Europe has to offer; namely the BMW M3, Audi RS5 and Mercedes C63 AMG coupe. However, prices start at £34,995 – around £20,000 cheaper than the Germans.

OK, don’t expect to find radar-guided cruise control, night-vision cameras or much of the other high-end toys that the autobahn stormers are burdened with (at extra cost, we might add), but what you do get is a simple driver’s car with a chassis that’s more than happy to play when the mood takes you.

It may not be the last word in style, sophistication or technology, but if what matters to you most in a new car is character and a sense of fun, the Camaro offers both in spades.